1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnitude comparator and more specifically to a tree-type magnitude comparator with decreased number of gate delays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art includes magnitude comparators capable of comparing two binary words A and B and indicating whether the magnitude of word A is greater than that of word B, equal to that of word B or less than that of word B. Magnitude comparators of conventional design commonly use a sort of "look-ahead" scheme. For example, types SN5485, SN54L85, SN54LS85, SN54S85, SN7485, SN74L85, SN74LS85 and SN74S85 offered by Texas Instruments, Dallas, Tex., incorporate the conventional design. Though it is well known that the "look-ahead" scheme can provide high speed circuitry, it requires a relatively large number of logic circuits and complex interconnections.